I arrived at the place where I had agreed to meet Lu Yue. She was already waiting for me. I took out the Soul Incense Pill from my bag and handed it to her.

Her face turned grave, and after sniffing it for a while, she told me, "There's corpse oil inside."

Corpse oil?

My heart felt like it was being clenched.

"What is corpse oil?" I asked persistently.

Lu Yue looked at me and said, "Based on your previous description, I guess if there is corpse oil in this Soul Incense Pill, then the Calming Incense you ordered also contains it. Moreover--"

She paused for a moment and continued, "I suspect that your family practices Soul Cultivation Sorcery.

"Soul Cultivation Sorcery is a wicked art that transforms a person into a vessel for transferring souls. The Calming Incense you burned and the pills you consumed are all meant to transform you. And these things require corpse oil as raw material, especially the corpse oil made from the bodies needed for soul transfer."

"Your family wants you to become someone else's vessel. Haven't you noticed that you're becoming less and less like yourself?"

"Also, have you ever thought about what the person in your dreams looks like?"

I felt a sudden tightness in my chest, squeezing my palm tightly. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Corpse oil? Soul Cultivation Sorcery? How could that be?

Seeing my incredulous expression, Lu Yue sighed and continued:

"This sorcery requires you to be exposed to the fragrance of corpse oil for eighty-one days, and during the final forty-nine days, you have to consume a pill of corpse oil daily. As expected, you have reached the final stage of vessel cultivation. Once you finish eating this Soul Incense Pill, the person in your dreams will completely replace you."

"Forty-nine days? But this bottle of Soul Incense Pill only has 30 pills." I seemed to have caught a loophole.

"30 pills? Are you sure you started taking the Soul Incense Pill from your mother-in-law?"

Just as I was about to reply, I remembered the empty bottles I found in my mother-in-law's room. I fell into silence.

After a long while, I found my voice again and asked, "Then, is there any way to save myself?"

Lu Yue shook her head and said, "I don't have enough knowledge in this area, and you're already in the final stage. I need to go back and ask my grandfather. Once I have some information, I'll contact you. But remember, don't burn any more incense or consume the Soul Incense Pill."

I returned home feeling lost. My mother-in-law and husband were not at home.

I stared blankly at our wedding photo in the living room, feeling deceived by these years of time.

Back in the room, my husband had already put away the Calming Incense. I laughed at myself and thought, with so many anomalies from my husband and mother-in-law, I never suspected anything. Was it because I trusted them too much, or was I just too foolish?

Ding ding ding, my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Miss Gu Sheng? This is Lu Yue." I was surprised that Lu Yue called so quickly.

"Yes, it's me."

"I asked my grandfather at home, and he said that if you want to recover, you need to find that corpse or something that remains of it and hand it over to us. We will send that soul to rest. Then you can continuously take the Clearing Pill we've refined to remove the corpse energy in your body:

"But if that soul continues to exist, it will always follow you, waiting for an opportunity to enter your body."

Corpse? I had no idea where the corpse was, and I felt puzzled.

After hanging up the phone, I kept thinking about where they could have placed the corpse. The Calming Incense was obtained by my husband from the temple, and the Soul Incense Pill was brought by my mother-in-law from the countryside. So, the corpse should be in the countryside.

Clap! My husband came back and turned on the lights in the living room. I realized that I hadn't turned on the lights all this time.

He looked at me with a pensive smile and asked, "Why are you sitting dumbly in the livingroom?"

I mustered up my courage and asked him, "Where did you get the Calming Incense?"

His smile faded, and he replied, "I bought it from an old temple in the countryside. Why do you ask?"

"And the Soul Incense Pill? Where did your mother get it from?" I pressed further.

He hesitated for a moment and then said, "She said she got it from a distant relative who practices some ancient healing techniques. Why are you so interested in these things all of a sudden?"

I took a deep breath and decided to reveal everything to him. I told him about the conversation I had with Lu Yue, the suspicions about Soul Cultivation Sorcery, and the need to find the corpse to save myself.

As I finished speaking, his face turned pale, and he stumbled backward, knocking over a vase in the process. He seemed genuinely shocked by what I had revealed.

"I... I didn't know," he stammered. "I didn't know it would come to this. I thought it was just some harmless traditional practices."

My heart sank even further. Was he involved in this knowingly or unknowingly?

"Where is the corpse?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He took a moment to compose himself and then said, "I think... I think it's buried in the backyard of my childhood home in the countryside. We used to have a small family cemetery there."

I felt a mix of relief and dread. At least now we had a lead, a place to start searching for the remains. But the thought of going back to that house, facing whatever awaited us there, sent shivers down my spine.

"We have to go there and find it," I said firmly. "We need to put an end to this."

He nodded, his expression filled with remorse. "I'll do whatever it takes to make things right."

We made immediate plans to travel to his childhood home the next day. I couldn't sleep that night, plagued by nightmares and the weight of the situation. But I was determined to uncover the truth and free myself from this dark magic that had entangled my life.

The next morning, we embarked on our journey to the countryside, filled with apprehension and hope that we would find the answers we desperately needed.